


From Your Secret Admirer

by turtlegirl5



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Halloween, High School AU, I tried my best, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8430349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtlegirl5/pseuds/turtlegirl5
Summary: Liz is determined to find out who her secret admirer is.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hermionesqueen (hermionesqueen)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermionesqueen/gifts).



> I wrote this in 2016, but wanted Halloween to be on a weekend, so it's set in the year before. This was written almost entirely on mobile, so please forgive any formatting errors. I was very tired of having to manually indent everything.

“So are we still hanging out this weekend?” Liz asked.

“Of course!” Tsubaki replied. 

“Cool,” She spun her locker combination. “Maka says she’s having a party and Patty wanted to know if we'd be going there first.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun!”

“She says we have to dress up. Do you wanna go costume shopping after school tomorrow?”

“Sure!”

“Alright, I’ll let Kid know I’m coming home late-- hey, what’s this?” Inside of Liz’s locker was a small package wrapped in sparkling silver paper. Curious, Liz picked it up. Tied underneath the small white bow was a card. 

     “From your secret admirer…” She read. “Secret admirer?” She looked over at Tsubaki. “What do you think that’s about?”

Tsubaki shrugged.

“The handwriting looks familiar.” She turned the note over, hoping for more clues, and found was a pink lipstick kiss on the other side.

“Open it.” Tsubaki urged. Liz peeled off the shimmering paper.

“Hey, cool!” She exclaimed, opening the box and sliding a bottle of magenta nail polish into the palm of her hand. “I love this color! This is so sweet, I wonder who sent it?”

Tsubaki shrugged again, her face expressionless. “I dunno, but come on. We’d better leave or we’ll miss the bus.” 

“Crap, good point.” Liz stuffed her notebooks into her backpack and dropped the nail polish into her pocket. She walked Tsubaki to her bus before running to catch up with her own. 

“Hey, sis! What took you so long?” Patty asked as Liz slid into the seat next to her, panting. 

“Got held up.” Liz puffed. She took a minute to catch her breath before explaining what happened to Patty. 

“Ooh! Can I see?” She squealed. Liz pulled out the gift and showed it to her sister. 

“It’s the same brand I use and everything.” 

“That’s so weird! You don’t know who sent it?”

“The note just said ‘From your secret admirer’.”

Patty giggled. “Someone has a crush on you!”

Liz blushed. She figured that. The question was, who? She knew who she  _ wanted _ it to be, but… 

_ No. _ She thought sternly.  _ We’ve been over this before. Tsubaki is your  _ friend. _ Don’t you dare ruin that. _ Besides, the handwriting didn’t even look like hers. 

“So did you ask Tsu about going to Maka’s Halloween party?”

“Yeah, we’ll stop by. Um… Patty?”

“Hmm?”

“Try to be… _ calmer _ … around Maka’s friend if they’re at the party, okay? I know how you get on Halloween.”

“I’m nice to them!”

“You are, but you’re also a little… over enthusiastic sometimes. The kid’s shy enough as it is, they don’t need you coming at them with a million different things.”

“Okay.” Patty shrugged. Liz sighed and ran her hand affectionately over Patty’s hair. 

“Okay, little sis.”

_______________     _______________

 

     “Kid, we’re home!” Liz called out, hanging her backpack by the entrance. Patty’s near-identical one hung on the other side of Kid’s mahogany front door. 

_       Trust fund kids… _ She thought. The least he could do would be to hire a chauffer to pick them up. No, they had to take the damn school bus instead. 

“Kid?” She called again, climbing the stairs to his room. She knocked on his door. 

“Come in.”

“How was school?” He asked when she opened the door.

“Okay. How was homeschool?”

“Pretty good.” 

“Have you eaten lunch?”

“Yes”

“What are you working on?” She nodded at his laptop.

“A book report on Fahrenheit 451”

“Nice, I remember doing that freshman year, too. Are you going to Maka’s party this weekend?”

“I think so”

“Cool, Tsubaki and I are going shopping after school tomorrow for our costumes. Do you know what you’re going as?”

“I’m going to be a vampire.”

“Nice! Patty’s going as a little piglet, she’s gonna be so cute!”

“Aww, that is cute!”

“I know, I can’t wait! Anyways, I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Okay, I’ll see you at dinner.” 

“See you.” She closed his door and wandered over to her room. Once again, she pulled out the bottle of nail polish. She wished she’d remembered to take the note, too. She’d seen that writing somewhere before, but where?

Obviously she knew whoever this was. Nobody who wasn’t her friend could have picked out such a perfect gift. 

So… that narrowed down the searchy considerably. But if it wasn’t Tsubaki, she had to find out who it was and let them down gently. 

“Sis?” Patty asked through the door. “Can you help me with my homework?”

“Sure, Patty.” Liz quickly stowed the gift in her nightstand drawer and went to help her sister. 

_______________     _______________

  
  


      "So what were u thinking of going as?"  Liz Texted Tsubaki while Kid and Patty were doing the dishes.

 

      "Idk I was thinking of like a time period costume or something?" Tsubaki replied.

 

      "Oh that’s a good idea! Lol maybe we could wear matching costumes."

 

      Liz’s head flopped down onto her mattress. That was a stupid thing to send. Now Tsubaki would either think she was joking or think that she wasn’t and figure out who she liked. This was horrible. This was a horrible, terrible tragedy and she would have to change schools and switch her name to “Beth”.

But… friends wore watching costumes too, right? Maybe she would just think it was platonic.

Maybe “Eliza” sounded better.

Her phone buzzed and Liz’s head snapped back up. 

 

     "Lol maybe"

 

What the hell did that mean? She had no idea what to do with such an ambiguous reply.

 

     "Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I should probably work on my history paper lol"

 

     "Okay, see you tomorrow! Good luck

 

      "Thanks lol"

 

Liz groaned and flopped her head back down again. Could she  _ be _ any more pathetic at this? 

The next day, Liz fetched the note from her locker and spent all day trying to see who's writing it looked like. No matter how many times she hoped, Tsubaki’s was not a match. 

“So are we going shopping after school today?” Tsubaki asked as they sat down to lunch.

“Yeah, did you drive in today?”

“Mhm! I was thinking we could go to that new Halloween store by the mall?”

“Sounds good!” Liz slathered two french fries in ketchup and popped them in her mouth.

“You know, you really should eat something healthier than fries and pizza every day, right?” Tsubaki sighed.

“It’s a free country. Besides, it’s the only thing here that’s actually edible.

“I guess,” Tsubaki said as she unzipped her lunch bag. “You could always bring lunch, though.

“Eh, I’m not as good a cook as you.”

“You’re not bad. I like your pasta.” Tsubaki admitted.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah”

“Huh, thanks.” Liz smiled.

“No problem. So how’s your history paper coming?”

“I’m kind of stuck. Like, I have a lot of ideas, but none of them really fit.”

“Do you have your outline finished?”

“Yep.”

“Well maybe I can help you with it tomorrow. It’s not due until Monday, right?”

“Yeah! Are you sure?”

“Totally”

“Alright, it’s a date.”  _ Oh my god, why would you say that?  _ She scolded herself. That was such a stupid thing to let slip. “A-a study date.” She amended. 

“Cool, BlackStar has soccer that day, so the apartment should be quiet for a few hours.” Tsubaki seemed not to have noticed. 

They chatted for a while about what their costumes were going to be, eventually deciding on a flapper and a prohibition-era gangster. When the lunch bell rang, they waved goodbye and went to their separate classes. Fourth period was Liz’s favorite, despite not having Tsubaki in her class. Gym was her best subject, and the only one she shared with her sister.

“Hi, sis!” Patty chirped as soon as Liz saw her. 

“Hey, Patty. How’s your day been?”

“Good, I beat BlackStar at hangman in math class!”

“Patty… you’re supposed to be paying attention.”

“I know, but it was boring.”

Liz sighed. There was no point in arguing with her about it here. She went to her gym locker and got changed. Patty was already dressed and chatting with Maka. 

Liz surveyed herself in the dressing room mirror. The dark red shirt with her school logo printed in white across the chest, black basketball shorts, ponytail, and sneakers weren’t a look she was eager to wear in public, but she pulled it off. “Volleyball” was written on the whiteboard for Thursday. 

“Yes!” Liz cheered. This pleased her.

“Liz, you’re on our team, right?” Maka asked. 

“Of course.”

“Come on, let’s go!” Patty insisted. “I wanna play volleyball!”

“All right, all right.” Liz replied. Maka made a quick stop to wash her hands and the 3 of them walked out the door. 

The sisters and Maka teamed up with two freshman girls, Jackie and Kim, who Liz only knew by name, and a senior she barely knew. On the other side of the net was a team of freshmen. Five she didn’t know. 

One… was BlackStar.

“Captains, shake hands!” Coach instructed. Liz and BlackStar both stepped forward and shook hands under the net, never breaking eye contact. 

Liz's team started off well, but BlackStar and his friends just barely won. She lost by a point, but she'd still lost when the whistle blared. 

“Dammit!” Liz huffed under her breath. Time to switch opponents. Liz’s team moved down to net 2. BlackStar’s moved up to net 4. She cringed, wishing he wouldn't whoop do loudly. The gym teacher blew her whistle once to make him quiet down. 

_ Yeah, that'll last _ . Liz thought disgruntledly. The next 5 games went fairly quickly. While most games were played until one side had a certain number of points, each game in gym timed out after 5 minutes. The team with the most points moved up a net, teams with less moved down, and ties were settled by a coin toss. Liz was determined to have a rematch, winning the next four games with an edge of aggression. Gym was by far her best class, and she and BlackStar were in an almost constant state of competition. Since the team that won net 6 remained there, she just had to work her way back up to BlackStar. Every game she hoped his team would have been taken down a net, and every game she was disappointed. This time, however, they made it to net 6. BlackStar was going down. 

           The captains shook hands. BlackStar’s teammate served the ball. Maka hit it to Patty, who passed it to Liz, who spiked it over the net and onto BlackStar’s turf. He dove, bumping it to someone else, who set the ball for BlackStar to hit. Liz jumped up and slammed it back over to their side. The ball slammed into the ground, two inches into their boundary line. Point Liz. 

“Yes!” She cheered, pumping her fist in the air. She high-fived with Kim and Maka as the boys threw back the ball. 

This time, Maka served. BlackStar jumped up and spiked it right back into their court. Jackie flung herself forward, but missed. Point BlackStar. The yelling and whooping was almost unbearable. 

His team served again, but this time Liz was on them. She barely let the ball get over the net before spiking it. BlackStar actually used his head to set the ball for his teammate, who shot it back over the net, but Maka was ready. She slammed the ball back down, one boy’s fingers just barely brushing the ball as it landed. Point Liz. 

The game went on until Coach Mjolnir blew her whistle.Time was up, and Liz’s team had won, 5-3. Huffing and puffing, they took a round of high fives.

“Good game.” BlackStar panted, stooping over to catch his breath. 

“Thanks.” Liz replied with a grin. She took a pull from her sports bottle on the way to the locker room. 

History class was as boring as ever, but 6th period was biology, where she’d see Tsubaki again.

Oh, biology… if only that could be as boring as history class…

“Hey, Liz!” Tsubaki greeted her as she sat down. Tsubaki’s 5th period was 3 doors down from bio, while Liz’s was almost at the other end of campus. 

“Hey, Tsubaki. How’s your day been?”

“Oh fine. BlackStar said you beat him in gym today, well done!”

“Thanks.” Liz chuckled. “Do you know what we’re doing today?”

“We’re having a lecture.”

“Wait we’re what? No dissection labs? Are you serious?” Liz never thought she would go nose-blind to the smell of formaldehyde, but their senior year bio teacher wasn’t remotely to be expected. This would have been the third lab in a week.

“Yeah, we have a substitute today.”

“Ah.” Liz took her usual seat next to Tsubaki. By the time class had ended, she was proud that only half of her notes were just mindless doodles. She had kept finding subtle ways to stare at Tsubaki. The way light bounced off of her sleek black hair, the sound of her voice, the way her blue eyes lit up when something made sense… it was just too hard to concentrate on anything else. God, even her  _ handwriting _ was gorgeous. 

Liz slipped the note out of her pocket to check for similarities once more, and found nothing. Heart sinking, she had put the note away and tried to focus on the rest of the lecture, but the final bell rang not long after. 

Both Liz and Tsubaki’s lockers were just down the hall from Stein’s classroom. Liz spun her combination, wondering if her secret admirer had left anything else. Sure enough, there was a single red rose inside when she opened the door. Tied to the stem was a tag with the same message as before. Liz delicately picked up the red, thornless rose and turned it over in her hand. On the other side of the note was a soft pink kiss mark, identical to the previous one. She felt her lips tug into a smile as she held the gift. Her heart fluttered for a moment. Liz glanced over at Tsubaki, who was determinedly looking away. 

__ _ Is she jealous? _ Liz thought hopefully. No… when she turned around it looked like she was fighting a smile.  _ Damn it, she’s happy for me! _ Liz shook her head. What the hell kind of thinking was that? If Tsubaki didn’t like her, then she didn’t like her.  _ Someone _ obviously did. Maybe she could even like them back. She loaded up her backpack, wondering for the millionth time who her admirer might be. 

 

_______________     _______________

 

      “Man, I wish you could drive to school every day!” Liz checked out her reflection in Tsubaki’s rearview mirror. Eye makeup was still good, and no lipstick on her teeth.

“I know, me too!” Tsubaki pulled out of her parking space and waited for the other cars to leave. “I could if gas weren’t so expensive.”

“Yeah man, I feel that.” Liz sympathized, fiddling with her friend’s radio. 

It didn’t take more than a few minutes to arrive at the Halloween store. Most of that was spent trying to get out of the damn parking lot. They were greeted by a cheerful cashier upon entering.

“Hi, can I help you find anything?” One of the employees asked. Liz inquired about a 1920s section, and they were led to the middle of the store. Just along one of the isles, a scarecrow jumped out and screamed angrily at them. Liz shrieked and stumbled backwards into Tsubaki’s arms.

“Sorry,” the sales assistant chuckled. “That one goes off kind of randomly.”

“Y-yeah,” Liz stammered, still clinging to Tsubaki.

“Liz, are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a little startled is all.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and awkwardly straightened up before continuing. Tsubaki’s hand brushed against hers and she smiled at Liz. 

“You can hold my hand if you’re scared.” 

Liz could not for the life of her tell if Tsubaki was being serious or making fun of her. Knowing Tsubaki, it probably wasn’t the latter, but still, a woman had to cling to any remaining shreds of dignity she had left within her soul, so she wasn’t about to risk it. 

“Nah, I’m fine.” She was so busy with putting on a confident grin for Tsubaki that she narrowly avoided walking into a medieval weapons display.  _ Why the hell couldn’t I have just had a heart attack and died? Why? Why god, why? _ She bemoaned. 

    They thanked the salesperson and browsed through the “Roarin’ Twenties” section. 

    “Ooh, this is pretty! Liz, what do you think?”

    “I think this isn't how female gangsters would've dressed.” She glanced up at Tsubaki, holding a white flapper costume. “Oh, that's nice!” 

     “Do you think I should get this one, or the ‘Downtown Doll’ one?” She asked, taking a second costume off the shelf. The second one was dark blue and velvet, with black sequined fringe trailing to the model's knees. 

     “Hmm… ‘Downtown Doll’. It goes better with your eyes.”  _ Shit.  _ Do just friends say stuff like that? 

     “Really?” Tsubaki asked, pleased. 

     “Uh huh!”

     “Thanks.” She smiled to herself, putting the “Glamorous Gal” costume back on its shelf. “What about your costume?”

     “At this point, I'm honestly thinking I should just get a men's costume.” She pulled a black pinstripe suit off the rack. “The girl gangster ones just aren't for me, and I have serious doubts that Bugsy ever showed that much cleavage.” 

     Tsubaki laughed. “Maybe we should try these on first, then.”

     “Okay.” The two of them waited in line for a fitting room. Liz was screaming internally at the prospect of having to share one, but luckily they didn't have to. Accessories weren't allowed to be taken into the dressing rooms, but at least they could make sure their costumes fit. 

     Tsubaki's hair was slightly tousled from having to pull her dress on when she emerged, but her ponytail remained intact. Liz was speechless. The dress looked perfect on her.

     “Liz, you look amazing.” She murmured, her ears tinted pink. 

     “Th-thanks, so do you.” She nervously ran her fingers through her hair. 

     “Thanks.”

     “So, do you think we should go with this?”

     “Mhmm.”

     “Me too, I like this suit.”  _ And you look so pretty.  _ Well she always did, but… wow.

     They got dressed back in their street clothes, paid for their costumes, and went home. 

“Kid, Patty, I’m back!” Liz called out.

“Hey, sis! Did you get another present?”

“I got a rose.” 

“Ooh, can I see?”

“Yeah, hang on.” She rummaged through her bag, relieved to find that none of the petals had been squashed. “Here.” She passed it over to Patty.

“It’s so pretty!” She gasped.

“And you have no idea who’s giving these to you?” Kid asked, emerging from the dining room. 

“Nope. I can’t find a single match for the handwriting. I know I’ve seen it before, I just can’t remember where.”

“What are we having for dinner?” Patty asked.

“I was thinking I’d make pasta .

_______________     _______________

 

     After almost 3 hours of helping Patty study (most of which was just spent trying to get her to pay attention), Liz was showered and ready for bed. Just as she was brushing her teeth, Liz’s phone buzzed.

 

     "are you coming over for dinner tomorrow?"  Tsubaki had texted.

 

      "yup! Kid and Patty are ordering takeout."  Liz replied.

 

      "Nice!"

 

      "Yeah lol. So I’ll see u tomorrow?"

 

      "Mhm!"

 

      "Cool, I can’t wait!"

 

      The two of them said their goodnights and went to bed. Liz gazed at the rose on top of her bookcase, silhouetted in moonlight. She smiled to herself, thinking that things were going pretty well. Even if the gifts weren’t from who she had a crush on. 

      Friday was sort of a blur. She beat BlackStar by 3 yards in track racing, but not much else of importance happened that day. She rushed to her locker between every class, even taking bathroom breaks in the middle (admittedly lingering a bit during 5th period) just to check if she’d gotten anything else. She was determined to find out who her secret admirer was, and figuring out when they came by was a first step. When nothing new had arrived all day, she guessed they must come by during sixth period. Sure enough, when she sprinted to her locker after history, she found a flat, rectangular package wrapped in the same silvery paper and white ribbon as the nail polish. Tied to it was the same note, with the same lipstick kiss on the back. She wanted to open it here, but the bell was about to ring, and she’d been late to enough classes today. Reluctantly, she slipped the present into her backpack and hurried off to class. 

      Stein was absent again, it seemed. Liz took her seat at the lab table. Today they were watching a movie in class. She and everyone else heaved a sigh of relief. Stein didn’t realistically care whether they took notes or not, so she spent most of the lesson quietly goofing off. Liz mentioned the present and asked if she could open it at Tsubaki’s house.

      “Uhm… sure.” Tsubaki murmured under her breath.

      “Great, thanks!” Liz whispered back. 

      Tsubaki was probably the only one bothering to pay attention. Most kids were passing notes or drawing or just blatantly daydreaming. The sub didn’t seem to notice. Or care. Liz spent the time wondering what was in the box, and who had sent it. It was someone with vaguely familiar handwriting, who knew her locker combination, favorite flower and nail polish, and passed by her and Tsubaki’s lockers just before 6th period. While that was certainly a narrow list, there was nobody who fit it. 

      Oh god, what if they were a stalker? The thought had never occurred to her before. What if it was some creepy sophomore boy from gym class with a thing for her? That would be horrifying. She could just picture some smirking, axe-drenched 15-year-old wearing Adidas sandals and socks. She shuddered at the thought. Well whoever this theoretical boy was, she’d have to find him and put a stop to things.

      Then again, most sophomore boys didn’t sign things with a lipstick kiss.

      But what if it was from a non-boy stalker? What if it was from some girl around Patty’s age? Liz would try to let her down gently. She really hoped she wasn't dealing with a stalker. Or an underclassman, for that matter. 

      The bell rang, and everybody hurried to leave. Liz and Tsubaki stopped by their lockers and headed to the car. Back at her and BlackStar’s place, she and Liz got to work on their history papers. 

  “So what are you having trouble with?”

      “Uh, it’s mostly these two things.” Liz pulled the outline from her binder. “I’m pretty sure these statements contradict each other, but I agree with them both and I’m not sure what else to write.”

      “Hmm… they’re not necessarily  _ contradictory _ per se. Here, let me see.”

      They were nearly finished working when BlackStar got back from soccer practice.

      “Tsubaki! I need help with my science homework!” He announced, striding into the kitchen. “Oh, hey Liz.”

      “Hey,” she said, barely glancing up.

      “Hi, BlackStar. How was practice?” Tsubaki asked.

      “It was alright. What are you guys doing?”

      “Your mom.”

      “I’m helping Liz with her history paper. What are you having trouble with?”

      “Mr. Barrett is making us memorize the periodic table! We’re having a quiz on Monday and I can’t get it!”

      “He’s only giving you the weekend to study?” Liz interjected. “That’s pretty harsh.”

      “Well, it’s just on the first 20 so far.”

      “BlackStar, how long have you been putting this off?” Tsubaki sighed.

      “Just a couple of days! Look, I’ve been trying, okay? I just need a little help. I already tried studying on my own and it didn’t work. Can you help me?”

      “All right, I’ll help you.” 

      “Thanks, Tsubaki! You’re the best!” BlackStar shrugged off his backpacked and joined them at the table. He pulled out the periodic chart and his science comp pook. Liz was absorbed in finishing her history paper, but still felt oddly robbed of Tsubaki’s attention. Why couldn’t BlackStar have just been patient? She glanced up at the two of them and her eyes brushed over his opened notebook. She froze. That handwriting… where had she seen it before…?

      Oh no. Oh no, no, no. This was so much worse than some sophomore dudebro. This was cataclysmic. This was… this was  _ BlackStar _ !

      She remembered the small silver package in the front pocket of her backpack. Whatever it was, there was no way in fucking hell she’d accept it. It was from  _ BlackStar _ . Who had a  _ crush _ on her! The very idea made her skin crawl. He was… well, he was BlackStar! 

      She wondered if she should tell Tsubaki, then thought better of it. There was no saying for certain that her admirer was really him. It could just be an incredible, horrible similarity between writing. Or she could be entirely mistaken! It was only handwriting. 

      Then again, he could have learned everything he needed to know just by living with Tsubaki. She knew everything about Liz. Oh no. Oh god, what if it really was him? 

      “Liz, are you okay?” Tsubaki asked,     concerned.

      “Yeah, I just remembered that I, uh, have to go home. It’s…” She checked her watch. “Like 3 minutes past 5:00 already, and I have to help Kid with a-a thing.”

      “I thought you were staying for dinner?” The disappointment in her voice almost made Liz reconsider, but she couldn’t deal with being around BlackStar at the moment. 

      “I know, I’m sorry, I just- I have to go.” She stammered, shoving things haphazardly into her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder. “I’ll text you later, okay?”

      “Alright. Do you need a ride home?” 

      “Yes. Please.”

      “Okay, I’ll get my keys. I’ll be back in a few minutes, BlackStar.”

      He nodded, mirroring the concern in Tsubaki’s eyes. Liz’s gaze immediately shifted elsewhere, unable to look at him.

      Tsubaki and Liz got into the car and headed back to Kid’s house. They drove several blocks before Tsubaki spoke up. 

      “Do you want to talk about what’s wrong?” Tsubaki asked. Liz hesitated a moment before bursting out.

      “Did you know BlackStar was my secret admirer?” She didn’t mean for that to come out quite so accusatory. It felt like a long time before Tsubaki spoke again.

      “What made you think that he was?” 

      “The handwriting. Plus he lives with you, and you’re the only other person who knows my locker combination and my favorite flowers and what sort of nail polish I like. The lipstick on the back of the notes is even the same kind that you use. It all just sort of pointed towards…” Liz trailed off. Handwriting aside, BlackStar was not who it pointed towards. Tsubaki was quiet. She took a deep breath before speaking again. 

      “BlackStar wrote the notes.” She confessed. “But... that was just because I knew you’d recognize my handwriting.” She came to a red light and dropped her gaze to the steering wheel. Liz was silent for a long time. Finally she spoke up, just as they rounded the corner onto her street.

      “So wait… you’re my secret admirer?”

      “Yes.” Tsubaki said in a softly.

Liz’s lips quirked. “It’s not much of a secret anymore, is it?”

      Tsubaki gave a small smile. “I guess not.”

      “So… what’s in the box?” LIz asked. Tsubaki pulled into Kid’s driveway. 

      “Open it and see.” She said, still smiling gently. Liz reached into her backpack and pulled out Tsubaki’s gift. She examined the back of the note again, her heart fluttering at the sight of her lipstick kiss. Carefully, she undid the wrapping and lifted the lid on a small, white jeweler’s box to find a silver charm bracelet. Already attached were 2 charms: a rhinestone-studded L and a tiny silver pistol.

      “Tsubaki…” Liz breathed. “It’s beautiful, thank you!”

      “You like it?”

      “I love it!” She lifted her bracelet from its tissue paper nest. Attempting to balance it on her wrist to do the clasp was too precarious, and it slid off three times before Tsubaki fastened it for her.

      “You really like it?”

      “I love it.” She repeated. “Why didn’t you tell me they were from you?”

      “I was scared.” Tsubaki admitted. “I thought if you knew I liked you…”

      “...I’d freak?”

      She nodded.

      “I was scared of that too, honestly. I thought if you knew how I felt about you, you’d be weirded out and never want to speak to me again.”

      “Wait, you… you like me?”

      “Yes, dummy!” Liz said, half laughing. “God, I’ve wanted to kiss you since freshman year! I thought I was being too obvious!”

      “I thought I was being too vain!”

      “No, oh my gosh, do you remember the homecoming dance? When it was just you and me there because none of our friends were in high school yet? They played “The Only Exception” and I wanted to dance with you more than anything, but that stupid upperclassman kept trying to chat you up.”

      “I was just being polite! I told you I was gay like two years later, I thought you would have noticed! I wanted to dance with you, too.”

      “Really?”

      “Yes!”

      “I… I mean I knew you were gay, I just… I dunno, I figured there were better girls for you than me. I mean you never said anything when I came out, either.”

      “I didn’t want to seem like I was only coming on to you because you were bi.”

      Liz couldn’t help but laugh.

      “What?”

      “It’s just… all the stuff we missed out on. Do you know how much longer we could have dated if we’d known sooner?”

      “Is that what you want?” Tsubaki asked, her ears turning pink once more. Liz felt her face grow hot as her eyes flitted away to look at the dashboard instead. 

      “I dunno. Maybe. Is that what you want?”

      “...yes.” Tsubaki murmured. “Yes, I would like that.”

      “Tsubaki, will you, um, will you be my girlfriend?” Liz forced herself to meet Tsubaki’s gaze.

      “Yes.” She said, grinning. “Yes, absolutely!” 

      They both held each other for a long time before Tsubaki asked if she still wanted to stay for dinner. Liz agreed, and the two of them headed back to her apartment. Liz held her girlfriend’s hand all the way to the front door, a new spring noticeable in her step.

_______________     _______________

 

“Patty, are you ready to go?” Liz called up the stairs. She was already dressed in a pinstripe black suit, a pair of black dress shoes, and a silky white clip-on tie. She had a fake cigarette in her pocket, hair pulled into a low ponytail, and a black fedora on her head. Kid was already dressed in his vampire costume. He had decided to omit the fake blood because, in his words, why would a vampire not wipe their mouth after feeding? She had to admit, he kind of had a point. Patty came down the stairs dressed in a pair of pink footie pajamas, a pig’s nose, and a pink pig ears headband. She looked adorable, Liz thought. Especially with her little black flats and gloves that were supposed to be hooves. 

“I’m ready!” She announced, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Okay, let’s go.” Liz opened the door. The three of them met up with their Uber driver and left for Maka’s house. 

Her living room was lavishly decorated in what could only be described as a crapton of plastic bats and candy corn lights. For her roommate’s sake, the house remained devoid of any snakes, spiders, scorpions, witches, or animatronic jumpscares. Liz was silently thankful of that last bit. And the spiders. All in all, it was a nice party. The music wasn’t too loud, Maka’s dad was out of town, and Tsubaki-- her  _ girlfriend _ \-- was already there. Patty and Kid left to hang out with the other kids their age: Maka, dressed as a skeleton, Soul as a werewolf, BlackStar as a ninja, and Crona dressed as an incredibly adorable lion. 

Tsubaki was gorgeous to say the least. She wore silver colored, rhinestone-studded heels, a dark blue velvet flapper dress that hugged her form all the way down to her thighs and sparkling black fringe that fell straight to her knees, a fake diamond ring and costume silver bracelets glittered against her dark gloves, a white feather boa draped between her arms. Her hair had been curled and set with a bejeweled blue headband, adorned with a lone sapphire feather. Sparkling out from her curls were a pair of dangling diamond earrings. Liz knew that they were real; a 17th birthday present from her parents last year. They were industrial gemstones, because her parents knew she would hate blood diamonds, but they were real.

“Hey,” Liz greeted her.

“Hey, how are you?” Tsubaki smiled at her, making Liz’s heart flutter. 

“I’m-I’m good, how are you?”

“I’m good.”

“That’s good-erm, I mean I’m glad you’re having fun.” God, why did she sound like such a blithering idiot now? She decided to put a moratorium on using the word “good” for the rest of the night. “You look beautiful.”

     Tsubaki looked at the ground bashfully, and Liz could swear she saw her blush in the dim, orangeish light.

    “Thank you.” She murmured. “So do you.”

    Liz grinned. “Thanks. So when’s everyone going trick-or-treating?”

    “About half an hour, I think.” Tsubaki replied.

    “Are you going?” Liz asked.   


“I’m not sure. Are you?”

    “Nah, I’d rather stay here.” 

    “Me too.”

    "I’ll just get a picture of Patty with her friends before they go, and we can hold down the fort here.” She said, taking a seat next to Tsubaki on the couch. Tsubaki scooted closer to her and leaned her head on Liz’s shoulder.

    “Okay.” She said quietly. Liz’s heart thrummed in her chest again. She wanted so badly to kiss her, but now wasn’t the time. There were too many people around. Their first kiss was supposed to be private. 

    It was a quarter to 8 by the time everyone else left, leaving Liz and Tsubaki all alone. Maka’s family computer was still quietly streaming songs off of Pandora over in the far corner. It was a while before Liz broke the comfortable, relative silence. She walked over to the computer and put on “The Only Exception” by Paramore. Tsubaki seemed to recognize the song.

    “Er, Tsubaki? Would you like to dance?” She asked, offering her hand. Tsubaki’s lips parted in a bashful grin.

    “I’d love to.” She said, taking Liz’s hand. Her free hand fell to the small of Tsubaki’s back, while Tsubaki’s rested comfortably on her shoulder blade. 

    They waltzed together, just in a tiny box step at first. Liz guided her into a twirl and Tsubaki gave a small, mirthful laugh. They held each other closer as they danced. Liz’s hands met just above the small of Tsubaki’s back. Hers clasped behind Liz’s neck. 

    They swayed in time to the music, Liz’s heart beating quickly inside her chest. She knew what to do next, but that didn’t stop the butterflies. 

    She leaned in, at first just an inch, but then a little more, until her lips were barely an inch away from Tsubaki’s. They’d stopped dancing, she realized. In the space of a second that felt like an eternity, the two of them just stood there, breathing each other in, holding one another so closely Liz could swear she felt Tsubaki’s heart against her own, hammering a beat identical to hers. 

    Tsubaki closed the miniscule gap between them. Her hand tightened around Liz's shoulder as she pulled her even closer. Losing herself in Tsubaki was the most wonderful feeling, like she was light and free and alive. More so than she had ever felt before. 

    The door burst open with a crash and the couple jumped apart. Maka and BlackStar were leading the brigade, but luckily were too busy arguing to have noticed anything. From what Liz could piece together of Maka’s chastising, he’d jumped in front of a group of small kids, trying to scare them. Apparently it hadn’t worked as well as he’d hoped. A little girl he used to babysit kicked him in the shin and ran back to her dad. He was still limping slightly upon his return, which was apparently their reason for coming back. They would have just dropped him off and gone back to trick-or-treating, but Crona was getting tired and wanted to head home. Tsubaki fussed over her roommate while Maka paid for pizza and a tip with money they’d all pooled together. Soul brought out Maka’s deck of Uno cards while they ate.

    “Crona, you won’t have to take any cards if you play another draw two.” Maka told them.

    “But then you will.”

“That’s the point of the game. I promise I won’t be offended.”

“Oh… okay.” They dropped another draw two card onto the pile.

“Draw six, BlackStar.” Maka declared, slapping down a third card. 

“Savage.” Liz murmured under her breath. 

The eight of them played for 3 whole rounds before switching to a less volatile game. It was just shy of 10:00 when they moved on to Truth or Dare. Liz thought it wise to leave before someone dared her to do something she would regret. As per their Halloween tradition, she and Tsubaki went back to her apartment to watch Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

They snuggled up on Tsubaki’s couch, each wearing a pair of comfy flannel pajamas, with a bag of popcorn and a liter of soda between them. 

_______________     _______________

Stein was back on Monday. Thankfully they just had a quiz instead of another dissection lab. Liz was very nearly late, having taken a quick detour before class. When the final bell rang, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for the end of another Monday. Liz and Tsubaki walked to their lockers, hand in hand.

“What’s this?” Tsubaki asked after opening her locker. Liz smiled to herself. Seated on top of her textbooks was a brown stuffed teddy bear. Around its neck was a tag that read: “From you less-than-secret admirer” in Liz’s handwriting. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you think there are any little ways I could tweak this to make it better, please let me know. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a comment.


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